Asus has launched the ROG Phone 7 and ROG Phone 7 Ultimate today, less than a year the ROG Phone 6 was released. The refreshed gaming phone duo ships with an improved cooling system along with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and a faster on-board memory. Asus is already accepting pre-orders for both models which are priced starting at €999 ($1016).
The ROG Phone 7 and the Ultimate version are little changed in terms of design compared to last year’s gaming handsets. Rather, Asus focuses on bringing an enhanced cooling system to the two devices, resulting in the most stable performance in Asus’ lineup yet.
Asus ROG Phone 7’s new thermals
Asus says the custom GameCool 7 vapor chamber system supplemented by a dual graphite sheet and boron nitride layer is bigger and more effective in heat dissipation. It added that this setup provides up to 10 percent better efficiency.
In the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, Asus allows air intake through the motorized vent that can be opened if attached with AeroActive Cooler 7 accessory. As for the controller, it comes bundled free in the Ultimate edition and further improves the cooling of the handset. It also has an integrated Dirac tuner and subwoofer speakers which creates a 2.1 surround system when paired.
Powering the ROG Phone 7 series is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 system-on-chip with ray tracing support and then mated to a faster UFS 4.0 storage at 512 GB and 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM. The battery and charging are kept at 6000 mAh and 65W, respectively. Furthermore, users should expect overall longer battery life given the more efficient processor and upgraded cooling.
Brighter display and AI-powered game recorder on Asus ROG Phone 7
While the AMOLED display on the duo is a retained at 6.78-inch wide at 165 Hz refresh rate, it is now said to have a higher peak brightness of 1500 nits. The difference between the vanilla and Ultimate models is on the extra 2-inch screen of the latter. However, both share an illuminated RGB logo, ultrasonic shoulder buttons, and IP54 dust and water resistance rating.
As regards imaging capabilities, the triple camera module on the back is headlined by a 50MP Sony IMX766, unchanged from the ROG Phone 6. The remaining sensors are composed of the 13MP ultrawide and new 8MP macro, while the selfie gets a boost at 32MP, albeit still limited to 1080p video.
The two run on Android 13 OS out of the box and Asus announces an AI-powered gameplay recorder through the Game Genie app. This automatically captures and stores video clips of your game moments, such as kills and deaths in select game titles.
Asus ROG Phone 7 (Ultimate) price and release date
The Asus ROG Phone 7 and Phone 7 Ultimate are already available for pre-booking in Europe and Taiwan. Unfortunately, there are no exact US or North America release date and pricing details.
In Europe, there is a steep price difference between the two. The base mode starts at €999 (~$1020) while the Ultimate with an active cooler retails for €1399 (~$1550). There will be black and white color options offered in the standard and only a white finish for the Ultimate.
Which are your favorite features on the Asus ROG Phone 7 (Ultimate)? Is it the AI-powered game recorder or the more effective cooling system?
